THE BIG FINISH!


If you're reading this blog you're:

A: someone I work with
B: my mom
C: a boxing fan

For those of you in the C group I'm sure you've already heard about a few of the bouts close to being signed to finish out the year. For those of you in the A and B groups I will let know what's going on(mom you don't have to pretend you know who these people are). It looks as if Chad Dawson could be taking on Antonio Tarver on September 23rd, Shane Mosley might tangle with Miguel Cotto on November 10th, and on December 8th Floyd Mayweather and Ricky Hatton will square off. For me this makes for a great end to a pretty decent boxing year. Aside from the heavyweight division and the Jermain Taylor Corey Spinks fight, we've had a pretty good year.(I actually enjoyed my recent root canal more than those two bouts). Even if you were let down by the "Golden Boy" vs. "Pretty Boy" matchup you've got to admit it was kinda fun having boxing in the spotlight again. The first big fight being lined up is Tarver - Dawson for late September. I'm impressed that Tarver took this fight. Dawson looks to be one of the most dangerous guys in all of boxing, and I thought Tarver would duck the young lion. I'm glad it's being made, Dawson can now begin to clean up the division starting with it's most popular man, and then move on to the rest of the nursing home known as the Light Heavyweight division. Very soon after that fight ends HBO-PPV will air Shane Mosley vs. Miguel Cotto. This very well could be the best fight of the year. Mosley has looked great in last couple of performances against Louis Collazo and both fights with Fernando Vargas. Miguel Cotto has been steam rolling opponents for thirty straight bouts. This fight could very well be the one to seal Mosley's legacy or vault Cotto into superstardom. To cap off the boxing year we are going to see two unbeatens face off on December 8th in Las Vegas, when Ricky Hatton gets in the ring with the pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. This fight could be a slight let down just like the Oscar Delahoya fight, but again it will have a bunch of hype leading up to the fight so perhaps for the second time this year the general public will pay attention to the world of boxing. One thing is for sure the crowd on hand will be extremely entertaining. Those are three fights I'm looking forward to seeing along with a few others(Pavlick-Taylor, Kessler-Calzaghe, and Pacquiao-Barrera). So it looks like the Fall of '07 is trying to resuscitate the so called "dead" sport of boxing. I better get started on my predictions. Let me know what fight you're most looking forward to seeing.

WHAT'S NEXT?

It seems to me that Bernard Hopkins has done everything, defeated everyone, and has nothing left to prove. Although now that i think about he hasn't defeated everyone, has he? Clinton Mitchell, Jermain Taylor, and Roy Jones Jr. can still claim victories over the hall of fame boxer. Mitchell beat Hopkins in his first fight back in 1988, I think we can chalk that up to a fluke. Jermain Taylor beat Hopkins by razor thin decisions in 2005, but many had Hopkins winning one maybe even both of those fights, so once again he's forgiven. Then there is Roy Jones Jr. who got a unanimous decision over Hopkins in 1993. Their giant egos never let them agree on terms for a rematch. Now could be different, they need each other to go out the way they want to. In his win against Winky Wright, Bernard seemed to finally show some signs of age. I would by no means call him shot, but I do feel a guy like Calzaghe could to take advantage of Hopkins' slowed reflexes. Ever since his back to back knockouts by Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson Roy Jones has been trying to fix his legacy so he can ride off into the sunset as a pound for pounder. What better way to go out than beating a pound for pound great like Bernard Hopkins? What better way is there to retire than defeating Roy Jones, the only guy who has a legitimate win over you? Hopkins can't compete with the likes of Chad Dawson and Joe Calzaghe. A win over Glen Johnson or Clinton Woods wouldn't really do much to improve his already impressive list of victims. To get rid of a blemish on your record, now that would be a nice caper to an already remarkable career. Now some fans would say this fight five years too late, I say it's just in the nick of time! The fight is more interesting now than it was five years ago, because both now have kinks in their armor. They still match up in a similar way to when they were in their primes, they are each just a little more vulnerable. Also I kinda like that the roles would be reversed, in 1993 Hopkins was the bad guy. This time around I think most would be rooting for the "executioner" to finish Jones once and for all. Let me know what you think.

WHY DO I GET PUNISHED?

I had recently heard that there was an article in Ring magazine about one of favorite fighters(Matt Godfrey). So during a trip to my local Stop & Shop two weeks ago, I decided to peruse the magazine section and see if they had the issue. They had quite the selection of mags. They must have had ten hip-hop magazines, at least a dozen teeny bopper mags, countless health & beauty reads, and three pro wrestling magazines(WWE type stuff). Not one issue of The Ring! I wasn't too surprised, maybe a little angry, but that's because I think boxing fans take it a little more personally when people bash their sport. I returned to S&S today to pickup a few essentials(chips, dip, Ramon Noodles, Tuna) and I thought two things: Why do I eat like a college student, and I wonder if they have a copy of The Ring today? Sure enough they did, then as quickly as I picked it up to see what the issue contained, I put it down realizing it was 8 bucks. There was no way in hell I was paying 8 dollars for a magazine, even if it is "The Bible of Boxing"! As I continued to shop I wondered, "Why am I being punished?" Why did I have to pay 50 dollars to see my favorite fighter get in the ring on Saturday? Why should I pay 8 bucks for a magazine covering my sport? Why do eat so much Tuna? Why do I have spend so much money to watch a sport that I love? The only answer I had was, Tuna is cheep and easy. When two elite fighters square off it's guaranteed that I am going to fork over 50 smackers. When the Patriots play the Colts everyone watches Monday night football. When the Red Sox play the Yankees I just tune in to my local radio station and listen in. I'm not saying that Winky and Bernard should be on radio and given Superbowl treatment, but at least try and drum up support from new fans instead sucking the old ones dry. All I can say is boxing needs to be more accessible to everyone. Promoters and managers will take a prospect and bring him along slowly, making sure he gets the skills he needs and builds a fan base. Why can't they treat the sport of boxing the same way they do their prospects? I have no answers only questions, sorry if you were expecting more. By the way, being a stupid boxing fan, I paid the 8 bucks and bought the magazine.

HOPKINS WRIGHT

PREDICTION

I have come up with a few rules while watching boxing all these years:

1. Never bet against Bernard Hopkins.

2. Never bet against Winky Wright.

3. Always bet on black.(no, wait, that's Wesley Snipes in Passenger 57. Sorry, my bad.)

So, I guess I only have two rules for boxing.(I'm gonna have to come up with a few more). Now this fight just goes and screws with the little system I had going. I won't bet on either guy, but who should I pick to win. After mulling it over for about two months I have decided to go with(drum roll please, rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) Bernard Hopkins. I think the fight will be more entertaining than people think. We are talking about two of the best ring technicians on the planet. Why are people acting like this is gonna be John Ruiz vs. Fres Oquendo? Both of these guys want to prove they're the better man, and I believe they'll come out fighting. Hopkins showed much more energy against Tarver than he had in his 5 bouts before that. Bernard Hopkins is the Roger Clemens of boxing, or even better the engizer bunny of boxing, he just keeps going. He will be the bigger man in the ring and will force his will upon Winky the same way he did against Oscar DeLahoya. Winky got broken up worse in the Jermain Taylor fight than all the rest of his fights combined. After two fights with Taylor, Hopkins looked fine. I would also add that Taylor was a young guy full of energy, Wright is not. Also it's very important to point out that Hopkins is 9-0 with 7 ko's against southpaws. If all that wasn't enough, Bernard is also one of my favorite fighters, so I can't pick against him. PREDICTION: HOPKINS UD

CALZAGHE - KESSLER CLASH

It was announced that the top two Super Middleweights in the world will face off on Novermber 3rd in Cardiff Wales. This is the fight fans have been waiting for and I thought it would never get done. I figured it would be too easy and too enticing for Calzaghe to meet up with bigger name opponents for bigger money(Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor). I love this fight! These are two undefeated, PROVEN fighters, laying it all on the line for the fans(I'm sure they're making a pretty penny too, but I like to think they're doing this for me). There's no doubt in my mind that Millennium Stadium will be sold out, the fight will not disappoint, and I will be ordering wings. (The wings will be washed down with Moosehead of course). I will not give a prediction till we get closer to the fight, instead I have decided to list five other fights I feel have to get made.

5. RICKY HATTON vs. PAULIE MALIGNAGGI
Everyone is talking about Hatton taking on Mayweather, I would prefer to see him take on Malignaggi first. Ricky is a straight ahead in your face brawler, while Paulie is a slick boxer. I would like to see which would prevail between these two. If "The Hitman" gets past "The Magic Man" then I'd would say he is ready for Mayweather. I enjoyed the Cotto-Malignaggi fight and I think this one could be similar. Not only that, both Hatton and Malignaggi are funny guys, I bet the press conference would be as entertaining as the fight!



4. SHANE MOSLEY vs. MIGUEL COTTO
This fight is very possible now that Paul Williams beat Antonio Margarito over the weekend. I was actually rooting for Williams so that this fight could happen. I would love to see these two superstars square off, power vs. speed. Would Cotto be able to break down "Sugar Shane" the same way he has everyone else in his path? Would Shane's speed and experience overwhelm the young star? The hype for this fight would amazing, and unlike Mayweather-Delahoya I think this one would deliver in the end.



3. MANNY PACQUIAO vs. JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ II
In their first fight it looked like it would be an early night for the "Pacman" as he knocked down Marquez three times in the first round. As the fight went on Marquez starting putting rounds in the bank, and would eventually come back to get the draw. Both fighters have improved, and moved up a weight class since then. I think the fight would be all fireworks and would probably set up a third fight no matter who comes out with the win.



2. CHAD DAWSON vs. GLEN JOHNSON
"Bad" Chad Dawson is one fast rising young star in a division full of old men. I would love to see how Dawson handles the constant pressure from the "Road Warrior". I think eventually Chad could move up to Cruiserweight or even heavyweight and make some noise, but I would like to see him clean up the Light Heavies first. I think he should start with Johnson and move on to Clinton Woods and perhaps even send Roy Jones into retirement.



1. THE BRYGUY vs. MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS
This one would be a fight for the ages, and done out of shear jealousy. I hated Mark "The Playa" Philippoussis when I heard about his dating show Age of Love(a.k.a Cougers vs. Kittens). This guy doesn't need any help getting women, why hand him thirteen to pick from? Not only that, in episode three "The Playa" sent home my favorite Coug Lynn and my second favorite kitten, Adalaide. As if I wasn't angry enough after that, it seems my all around favorite Megan is destined to be voted off soon as well. Philippoussis needs to stopped and I'm just the guy to stop him. Also once he is out of the way I would like to start my own dating show called "Age of The Bryguy". What you think? That would work right?

WEEKEND PREDICTIONS

I did such a bad job making predictions last weekend I decided to get this weekends predictions in early. I would just like to say that when I make predictions, unfortunatly they come from the heart. If I were betting on these predictions I would sometimes go the other way. For instance, everyone knew that Wlad klitschko was going to beat Lamon Brewster on Saturday. I knew it too, but I wanted to be daring and hope for the Brewster upset again. If I had to put money on it, I would have gone with Wlad. That being said I have more than enough boxing coming up this weekend to be wrong about! Saturday night we have five big fights, four different venues, three up and comers, two PPV's, and one great night of boxing for the Bryguy! HERE GOES:

WELTER WEEKEND
The Antonio Margarito-Paul Williams fight is taking place at The Home Depot Center in California, but airing as an undercard for the Arturo Gatti-Alfonso Gomez fight in New Jersey. HBO was willing to spend a buck and bring three great fights to boxing fans(it's about time). After sitting through two Klitchsko snooze fests, and a terrible fight in Wales(Manfredo-Calzaghe), HBO owes this triple header to boxing fans.


ARTURO GATTI vs. ALFONSO GOMEZ
(40-8,31KO'S) (16-3-2,7KO'S)
I'm back and forth on whether or not it will be a good one. I understand that almost any fight Arturo Gatti is in is a good one(this excludes his fights against Mayweather, and Baldomir). From what I've seen Alfonso Gomez is full of heart just like his opponent. He has some skill as well, but has never fought anyone with more than 25 wins. Arturo Gatti has been in the ring with some of the best. Of course Gatti is also on the downslide of his career. I'm just afraid this fight might turn out to be more Gatti-Dorin than Gatti-Ward. Ward I should mention will be working the corner for Gatti in this fight(just a bit of trivia I thought I'd throw at ya). I think Gomez has enough heart to stay in there for a few rounds, but the ref will stop it late. I think after the beatings Gatti has taken from Mayweather and Baldomir this fight is for his fans.
PREDICTION: GATTI KO 10


KERMIT CINTRON vs. WALTER MATTHYSSE
(27-1,25KO'S) (26-1,27KO'S)
Fist off, the answer is I have no idea how to pronounce Walter's last name...so don't ask! This fight will be on the undercard of the Gatti Gomez fight and has a chance of being a better fight. Kermit Cintron is was once thought to be a wrecking machine until he bumped into Antonio Margarito two years ago. That fight sent Cintron back to the drawing board and Margarito on to the ever increasing list of guys to avoid. "The Killer" took some time off and came back to knock off two sturdy challengers(Mark Suarez and David Estrada). The Estrada fight was on my list as candidate for fight of the year. I think Kermit has gotten himself back on track and is looking to make a statement on Saturday...Bryguy predicts this statement will be loud and clear. I don't know much about Matthysse other than he has a solid record against solid opponents and almost as many KO' as victories. I'm not over looking Matthysse, but he's the smaller man against a hard hitting fighter with something to prove. I think this fight will be bombs away from the get go with Cintron coming out on top.
PREDICTION: CINTRON KO 11

PAUL WILLIAMS vs. ANTONIO MARGARITO
(32-0,24KO'S) (34-4,24KO'S)
This fight should be an interesting one. For a while it looked like Margarito would take a fight with Miguel Cotto and Williams wouldn't get his mandatory shot. I guess with all Margarito's bitching about being ducked by everyone, he couldn't then turn around and duck Williams. It looks like the winner could get a shot at miguel Cotto. Two years ago the Antonio found himself in a very similar situation, on a big fight card fighting a dangerous undefeated fighter, that many thought could defeat him(Bryguy included). So now it's 2007 and that undefeated dangerous fighter is "The Punisher". Paul Williams is a big weletrweight, at 6'1" he's got a three inch height advantage over Margarito, and a nine inch reach advantage. I have never been a big fan Margarito. I think he's a solid fighter with an akward style, but I I think he's been blown up into something he's not. He would have lost his fight with Joshua Clottey if Clottey hadn't broken both his hands. Two of his four loses have come against southpaws, and "The Punisher" is one big southpaw. I think Williams is going to finish the Margarito hype train and put himself on that list we talked about.(In case you missed it, that was the list of fighters to avoid.)
PREDICTION: WILLIAMS UD

PPV BONANZA!

This weekend sports fans also have two pay per views to choose from, that's if you don't mind foking over the cash. Headlining one is John Duddy who is fighting in Ireland for the first time. The other is headlined by the aging roy Jones Jr. They're not exactly dueling, Duddy's fight card will start at 5:00pm eastern time, Jones' will begin around 9:30pm. Let's break em down!

JOHN DUDDY PPV

The first PPV is John Duddy vs. Alessio Furlan in what is going to be "Ireland's" John Duddy's first pro fight in......well Ireland. The undercards are not so great, but there are a few reasons to get this fight.

1. I have yet to see John in a fight that isn't exciting.(That's kind of a lie, I saw him put Joseph Brady down 1 minute into the fight on a sad body shot...but I was front row so who cares?!)

2. The PPV is 20 bucks, much cheaper than most PPV's that have bad undercards.

3. The fights start at 5:00pm eastern time, which makes it a perfect pregame to the HBO fight card.(Or in The Bryguy's case perfect pregame before you go out on the town. Don't worry the HBO card will be DVR'd.)

As for my prediction, I see an easy night for Duddy. His opponent Furlan has lost 3 of his last 5 fights. His two wins came against a couple of guys with a combined record of 13 wins, 65 losses, 10 No Decisions, and only 3 KO's. I'd say his handlers want his home coming to be spectacular. PREDICTION DUDDY KO 5

ROY JONES JR. PPV
The second PPV of the night will be Roy Jones Jr. vs. Anthony Hanshaw. This fight has a better undercard, but costs ten dollars more than the Duddy fight. My problem with this is that it will start around 9:30pm, which will interfere with the HBO telecast. The main event also doesn't intrigue me all that much. Jones is doing what Shannon Briggs did, and what Evander Holyfield is in the midst of doing...fight opponents they know they can beat until someone gives them a title shot. I think Jones has lost a step and shouldn't be fighting a super middleweight. I like Hanshaw, he impressed me in Showtimes super middleweight tourney, but he's still not on Jones' level. Jones isn't going to let Hanshaw near him just in case he gets tapped on his chin. He'll probably make it a boring fight and then tell everyone after what a great fight and they're both warriors.(See Bryguy vs. Bozo). I'll save $10 and go with the Duddy pregame thanks. PREDICTION JONES UD

WEEKEND PREDICTIONS

We have decent entertainment to look forward to this weekend. A heavyweight showdown, that has an interesting back story. A Junior Middleweight title fight, two guys about the size of children, and I will assume a ton of dollar drafts. Overall, I'd say not too shabby!


Vic Darchinyan vs. Nonito Donaire
(28-0, 22ko's) (17-1, 10ko's)

I've read that some people think Donaire is slick enough to give Darchinyan some trouble. I am not one of those people. Everyone needs to stop thinking about how Christian Mijares upset Jorge Arce. I think Darchinyan is a much more dedicated animal. I'm even gonna as far to say he's like a mini Miguel Cotto. He breaks his opponents down and punishes them until the ref feels they've had enough. I just hope no one ends up in a coma this time.
PREDICTION: DARCHINYAN KO 8


Travis Simms vs. Joachim Alcine
(25-0, 19ko's) (28-0, 18ko's)

This should be a pretty good scrap between two evenly matched players. Both men are undefeated against pretty good opposition, and have a decent knock out ratio. The difference is Alcine fought three times last year, and Simms has only fought once in three years. Of course that one time was is absolute annihilation of Jose Antonio Rivera. Simms showed no sign of ring rust and looked as if his best years were still in front of him. Simms is also a southpaw, and tricky one at that. For that reason I have to go with Tremendous Travis in a late fight TKO.
PREDICTION: SIMMS TKO 10


Wladimir Klitschko vs. Lamon Brewster II
(48-3, 43ko's) (33-3, 29ko's)

Just like three years ago, on paper Klitschko should destroy Brewster. The only problem with that is "Dr. Steelhammer" has no chin, and a bit of a mental block. I think if he gets tapped by Brewster he'll have a panic attack just like last time. Brewster may not be the most talented heavyweight, but he sure is the most exciting. He's like the Arturo Gatti of the big boys, he's even got Buddy McGirt in his corner. Which now that I mention that may not be such a good thing. It seems like Buddy has been in a lot of losing corners lately. Anyway, back to the fight at hand, I don't see Wlad taking any chances of letting history repeat itself. He is going to fight the same way he did against Sam Peter, jab and grab. I could be wrong, but I'm gonna say this fight will go the same way the Brewster Krasniqi fight went. Brewster is gonna get slapped around for most of the fight only to land a few bombs and walk away with the win. Brewster knows if lands a hard punch or two Wlad will start to unravel.
PREDICTION:BREWSTER KO 11

NEW ENGLAND GOLDEN GLOVES

Two years ago I got to do a story on the New England Golden Gloves tournament in Lowell Massachusetts. It was one of the best boxing events I've been too. There were Olympic hopefuls(Demetrius "Boo-Boo"Andrade, Edwin Rodriquez) and guys just trying to prove they could compete on this level. Many good fighters have come through the Lowell Gloves including Lowell's own Micky Ward, Rocky Marciano and current Cruiserweight contender Matt Godfrey. If you ever get a chance to catch one of the shows I highly recommend it.
Let me know what you think of the story.

A HAYE'K OF A FIGHT
VS.

It was just announced that hard hitting slugger David Haye(19-1,18ko's)will get his shot at Jean-Marc Mormeck's(33-3,22ko's)WBA and WBC cruiserweight titles on September 28th. To me this fight has the potential to be better than any heavyweight fight this year. I have said for a while now that the cruiserweight division is what the heavyweight division used to be. It's a bunch of great boxers, that are all in good shape, and they all have KO power. Most importantly, unlike the heavies, they're willing to fight each other, this fight proves that. David Haye is a monster puncher with a good record, a guy like this would have been avoided as a heavyweight. Mormeck is coming off a hard fought twelve rounder with O'neil Bell and easily could have taken on a lesser opponent. This fight is going to be an all out war. I'm not sure Mormeck knows how to take a backward step.(Until the late rounds when he's winded of course.) Haye is like a much less sloppy version of O'Niel Bell. He stalks his opponent cutting off the ring with his right hand cocked looking for his patented "Hayemaker".(He calls it that not me, although being the tool I am, I kinda like it.) I have a feeling Mormeck could be in trouble in this fight. From the looks of it David Haye is a beast in the cruiserweight division. I will however mention that everyone thought the same thing about Edison Miranda in the Middleweight division. That is until Kelly Pavlick showed us that Miranda couldn't fight backing up. We will have to wait till September 28th to see if Haye can fight backing up. If HBO and Showtime pass on this possible fight of the year they may receive a very angry letter from "The Bryguy", and trust me they don't want that. As a side note if you've never seen David Haye fight look him up on Youtube, they have a few of his fights.

"GOLDEN" OPPORTUNITY

As a boxing fan I would like to give a big shout out to Bob Arum and Oscar DeLahoya for putting their differences aside, and giving the fans a chance to see some great fights. Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions had been stuck in court fighting over the rights to superstar Manny Pacquiao. Both promoters had signed contracts from the Pacman, but after some further discussions have decided to split the promoting duties, and pave the way for some major brawls. The first fight under the new marriage will be a second fight between Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera. Just for the record I would prefer a second fight between Jaun Manuel Marquez and Pacquiao, but hopefully that fight will be made right after. This could also pave the way for potential match ups between Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley, and a number of match ups including Pacman, Joan Guzman and Humberto Soto. So once again I would like to say thank you to Golden Boy and Top Rank promotions for finally giving back to fans.